Bohu Fish Banquet 博湖鱼宴

Bohu Fish Banquet (博湖鱼宴) is a meal of fish dishes cooked from the wild catch of Bosten Lake (博斯腾湖), which lies on the southern side of the Tianshan in Bohu County (博湖县), Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (巴音郭楞蒙古自治州). People's Daily Overseas describes Bosten Lake as China's largest inland freshwater lake; the county takes its name from the lake, which is shortened to 'Bohu'. The banquet is served at the county's fishing, lake-opening and ice-and-snow festivals.

The fish

China Daily reports 32 kinds of fish in Bosten Lake, and ten of them, among them grass carp, crucian carp, common carp and pond smelt, hold national organic fish certification. In 2013 Bosten Lake carp and grass carp were approved as geographical-indication products by China's national quality inspection authority.

How it is made

At the festivals the banquet is cooked from wild Bosten Lake fish in a way meant to keep the fish's own flavour, in a giant pot called the 'First Pot of the Western Sea' (西海第一锅); the lake's old name is Xihai, the 'Western Sea'. People's Daily Overseas says the pot was made in 2010 to mark the county's 40th anniversary. County officials described it that year as 3.9 metres across and three tonnes in weight, made of manganese-iron brass with copper decoration in water-ripple and fish patterns reflecting Mongol folk culture. It can serve ten thousand people at once, and in 2011 it received a Great World Guinness (大世界吉尼斯) record.

Where and when it is eaten

The 'ten-thousand-person fish banquet' was billed as a highlight of the third Bosten Lake fishing festival in June 2010, alongside a Mongol lake-offering ceremony and dragon-boat races. In winter it has been served at the Bohu ice-and-snow festival in the Dahekou (大河口) scenic area, also called Xihai Fishing Village (西海渔村), where the pot stands and the programme includes winter fishing. At the opening of the county's 15th lake-opening season in June 2022, China Daily listed grilled fish, fish served in mugs (缸子鱼) and fish hotpot among the food on offer; the ten-thousand-person banquet drew the most attention, and its dishes were eaten up soon after reaching the tables.